English pronunciation · Words Starting with B

Boorish Pronunciation

Boorish is pronounced BUU-rish, IPA /ˈbʊrɪʃ/.

BUU-rish

US /ˈbʊrɪʃ/  ·  UK /ˈbɔːrɪʃ/

Syllables: BUU · rish (2 syllables, stress on syllable 1)

adjective: Rude and insensitive in a coarse way.

Audio for the American and British pronunciations plays on this page with JavaScript enabled.

Boorish in a Sentence

  • His boorish remarks emptied the table.
  • She found the whole evening boorish.
  • There is nothing witty about boorish behaviour.

Common Mispronunciations of Boorish

Not BOR-ish

The oo is the vowel of poor and tour rather than the or of born. That said, many British speakers do merge the two, which is why the dictionaries list both.

Not BOO-rish

The r has to colour the vowel, not follow it as a separate sound. Aim for the shape of boor with ish on the end.

Tip: Not related to boring, despite the look of it. A boor is a crude person, from the Dutch word for farmer.

More words starting with b · Every word in the pronunciation guide